Panerai’s “Manufacture” Status Gains the Brand (Yet Another) New Fan

Officine Panerai’s recent addition of the Manifattura line promises to really put Panerai into the next league, as a watchmaker. Not that the brand needs it to sell any watches, of course. Panerai is one of the world’s red hot luxury brands, with a fan base that borders on the fanatical in their devotion to their cult object. However, the commitment of Panerai to produce exclusive manufacture-made movements and technical specialties shows that this very successful luxury brand is ready to claim a place amongst the watchmaking elite. To a person like myself, this is a big enticement. When I contemplate buying a watch, I like to know that there is real substance inside the watch I want to own–does it have a movement made by that company, or if it uses someone else’s movement, has the company used that movement to create an exclusive complication of some kind? The demand for Panerai’s watches has caused the retail prices to continue spiraling upward, but to my mind, paying a premium price for a timepiece with a basic ETA movement is not something I want to do. The Manifattura line, however, has changed all that for me, and when I look at, say, the new Radiomir 8-Days watch, I suddenly see something very desirable.